


The Beauty Becomes The Beast

by TheSongContinues



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, First Curse, Golden Lace, Rumbelle - Freeform, Rumpled Lace, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-27
Updated: 2015-07-05
Packaged: 2018-04-06 12:20:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4221495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSongContinues/pseuds/TheSongContinues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based in the first curse. Lacey is just an innocent girl living in the town, but she has a dark streak that she manages to hide well. When Mr. Gold begins to take an interest in her, the dark streak begins to develop- and Mr. Gold is more than willing to watch the dark streak in her come to life. (Pretty much Belle's transition into Lacey.) Golden Lace/ Rumpled Lace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lacey French; everyone saw her to be a seemingly innocent girl in a small town. She was the only librarian in the town, and was the daughter of Moe French, a middle aged man who owned the local flower shop. According to everyone in the town, Lacey French was a sweet heart, a young, innocent, and an extremely smart girl with her whole life ahead of her. 

Her days were spent working in the library 5 days a week for eight hours; of course with an hour lunch break, but she still spent most of that time at her desk, her concentration completely focused on a book she decided to pick from the many book filled shelves the library had to offer. Not all her days were busy, in fact- most of her days were quiet; she worked Monday until Friday every week. Whilst working in the library, she learnt quite a lot about the people of the town. She saw the same faces every week, and often wondered whether or not the town was stuck in the same routine. 

Her life was perfectly ordinary to the town’s people- almost too normal. 

At one point in her life, Lacey dreamed about leaving Storybrooke, and exploring everything that this world had to offer- but that proved to be just a dream at the age of eight when her mother died. After that, her father had developed a number of health issues, mostly down to his drinking. A lot of anger built up inside her over the health issues, she watched as her own father treated his own life like it wasn’t worth anything and the seemingly innocent girl inside her begun to morph. She didn’t want anyone to know about her gradual change in personality, so she decided to work at the library, a perfect profession to hide behind her old mask of innocence- a mask that she had managed to keep up for quite a few years. 

Lacey had never opened herself up to anyone, not her best friend, Ruby- and especially not her ex-boyfriend, Gaston. She didn’t even particularly like Gaston, her father set her up with him in a blind hope that their relationship could get him free drinks- due to the fact that Gaston’s family owned the only bar in Storybrooke, The Rabbit Hole. Yes- Moe’s efforts did pay off, as he received free drinks for a little over eight months- Lacey blames his health problems on the free drinks. The drinks stopped as soon as the relationship did, it was a pretty nasty breakup and one of the only times Lacey was prepared to force her mask of innocence off. 

The reason she really broke up with him was because of his rather dull approach to life, and his sheer lack of intelligence, every time he spoke she felt like she lost IQ points. As well as his complete lack of a personality, Lacey also felt that he was too superficial, and she could never love someone as superficial as he was. A week before the breakup, Lacey was sure her mask would break. She broke up with him outside her father’s shop, and it of course attracted a large crowd. A large majority of the faces watching them were horrified, shocked… but there was one face that seemed to catch Lacey’s eyes- the face of Mr. Gold. 

Mr. Gold’s face was full of amusement; he watched the event unfold with a slightly twisted smirk and an evil glint in his eyes. It was obvious to Lacey that he didn’t want to be seen by anyone, that was evident by the way he hid away from the crowd… but Lacey saw him, he stood out more than anyone else in the crowd, and for a second she mirrored the slightly twisted smirk. 

Lacey couldn’t deny her attraction to Mr. Gold. He owned the town, including the library, and from what Lacey could tell, everyone was afraid of him. The reason as to why everybody was afraid of him was a complete mystery to her… she saw nothing to be afraid of. Every month when he showed up at her door asking politely for her rent, she happily gave him the rent, they exchanged a smile and he was on his way. She was more than aware that her father had experienced Mr Gold’s darker side… but ever since the abuse her father gave her about breaking up with Gaston, Lacey hadn’t really cared much.  
Lacey admired Mr. Gold… ever her personality began to change, she had begun to like power, and Mr Gold had a lot of power over the people of Storybrooke, he even had power over Lacey. 

It was a Wednesday, Wednesday the 31st to be exact- which meant it was the day that she gave Mr. Gold the rent the library, and the rent for the apartment above the library which luckily for Lacey, was included in the full rent for the library. She stood behind the circulation desk, her hands placed on the desk as she read the book she had been reading over the last couple of days. She only read when she was the only one in the library; it seemed like an appropriate way to pass the time. Her eyes drifted over to her watch, almost two… that was the time Mr Gold normally came to pick up the rent. 

As if on cue, the sound of the door opening filled the room and as she looked up to greet the visitor with her eyes, the wind hit her face and swept her hair up slightly. Lacey couldn’t stop herself from smiling slightly, as her eyes scanned over his face- it was definitely Mr Gold. 

“Hello Mr Gold.” She slipped the small sheet of paper she used as a bookmark back into her book, before closing it so all of her attention could be focused on Mr Gold. 

“Miss French… I trust that you have your rent ready…” He approached her; the sound of his cane clanking against the hard floor filled the room as he took each step towards the desk. Lacey’s hand reached towards the handle of the top draw of her desk and pulled the draw open. She liked Mr Gold for many reasons… but one of the reasons she liked him was because he was direct- and… well, she loved his accent. She picked up the white envelope that was inside the draw and willingly held it out for him. 

“Thank you dearie, I knew I could count on you to have your rent in time, unlike your father…” Mr Gold reached forward with his free hand, and took hold of the envelope, and in the process- accidently brushed his hand against hers. Lacey was surprised about how rough his hand was and Lacey couldn’t stop herself from wondering what it would feel like on her skin… gliding across her body- Lacey knew that she’d be thinking about that a lot now. 

“Don’t worry; the apple appears to have fallen very far from the tree.” Lacey’s pleasant smile turned into a grin, she wanted to see what she could get away with, see how adventurous and out of her comfort zone she could become in this little encounter- the mask was pealing slowly from her face. Her gaze looked for his, until her blue eyes met his brown ones. He slowly mirrored her grin, it looked even a little bit twisted coming from his mouth- and Lacey liked it. 

“That is very clear to me. As I understand it, you and your father are going through a rough patch at the moment?” He slipped the white envelope into his pocket. If it was anyone else, he’d look into the envelope before slipping it into his well-tailored suit- but not with Lacey. At the start of her ownership of the library and the apartment above, Mr. Gold would always check the contents of the envelope, but now he’d accept her payment without even looking- he wouldn’t say he trusted her, but it was the closest thing to trust he had experienced in a while. 

“Ever since I ended it with Gaston he’s been on my back- he doesn’t care about my happiness, he just cared about his free drinks…” Her voice trailed off, and Mr. Gold placed both hands on the top of his cane to rest against it as he looked at her. 

“Well Miss French, I am clearly no expert on families- but I’m more than sure that you deserve better than that. Now if you’ll excuse me Miss French, but I have a few more people to see about rent… It’s like Christmas came early.” His voice was husky, and Mr. Gold turned on his heels, Lacey bit on her lower lip momentarily- and she was rather disappointed that he hadn’t seen her… his reaction to her biting her lip would have been wonderful to see. 

“Of course, have a good day- Mr. Gold.” Even though her words sounded innocent, Mr Gold could definitely sense something darker hiding behind her. He turned on his heels again but this time it was to face her, a smirk developed on his lips. 

“You too… Miss French” And with those final two words, he left the shop. Lacey immediately sat down, her legs felt weak- if just his presence could do that to her… Lacey was more than eager to receive more from him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lacey begins to learn about the mysterious Mr. Gold, and despite the negativity she hears about him, she becomes even more intrigued about the man.

Five o’clock, the time for Lacey to end her days work and lock the library up for the night. Normally; after a day at work, Lacey would retire to her apartment and spend her time reading the book she was engrossed in, or if it was a particularly nice day- she’d go for a walk and do everything she could to avoid the places her father would likely to be (the flower shop and The Rabbit Hole). But tonight was different, it was a winter’s night and Lacey just fancied a hot chocolate from Granny’s. 

The door to the library was now locked, and Lacey wrapped her arms around her chest to hold the warm in her body, but she was already shivering. The walk to Granny’s Diner wasn’t long, but it seemed longer due to the cold. By the time she finally reached Granny’s her body was completely cold, her legs were especially cold due to the only thing covering them were thick panty hose, but not thick enough to stop the cold from covering her legs. An arm pulled away from her chest, and her fingers wrapped around the handle and turned it whilst pulling the door open. 

A sigh escaped her lips as she felt the warm air of Granny’s Diner hit her body. She walked in, immediately smiling at Ruby who was standing by one of the booths talking to Mary-Margaret, as Lacey made her way to the counter. She waited patiently at the counter, Granny’s Diner was rather busy on this night- it was always busy on a cold winter’s working day due to how much everyone liked the hot food and drink that Granny’s had to offer- the hot chocolates and the lasagne were favourites amongst the townspeople. She turned around, listening to random conversations that a number of people were having around the room. The first conversation she managed to listen in on was between Leroy and Dr Whale… Of course they’d be talking about Mr. Gold, especially with Leroy’s reputation as one of the town’s main gossips. 

No one in the town apart from Lacey liked Mr. Gold, so it was expected that he would be the topic of conversation a few days both before and after everybody’s rent- and since it was such a small town… gossip spread fast. Even though the room was packed and there were quite a few conversations going on throughout the room, Lacey’s ears managed to pick up every time Mr. Gold’s name was mentioned… and it his name was mentioned quite a lot. It was strange- his name was said with such hatred, and often they sounded scared to say his name, like they thought he could hear them, despite him not even being in the diner. 

“Hey Lacey.” Lacey almost jumped out her seat at the sound of the voice, she looked up to see Ruby smiling at her. It took a second for the smile to register in Lacey’s mind, before she returned it. “Hot chocolate?” 

“You know me so well.” She adjusted herself on the stool, even though she was now engaged in a small conversation with Ruby she still managed to listen to the gossip from around the diner… it was still centred on Mr. Gold and the events of the day regarding the rent. “Chocolate sprinkles and a flake please.” 

“You got it!” Ruby replied with a smile, Ruby had never served Lacey without a smile, after all- they were best friends. “Had a good day?” 

“Yes thank you… Quite a quiet but a pleasant day.” She watched as Ruby prepared her hot chocolate, she could tell that sooner or later Ruby would approach the topic of Mr. Gold- Ruby was the second biggest gossip after Leroy. 

“By the looks of things, you’re the only one who’s had a good day… the rest of the town is still shaken up by Mr. Gold and his demand for the rent.” Ruby poured the hot water into a cup, the water immediately turned darker and brown as it hit the hot chocolate powder in the bottom of the cup. She poured a small amount of milk into the cup, until the cup was almost full but not full enough to spill easily. 

“I don’t understand why everyone’s afraid of him… if everyone just got their rent in on time they’d have nothing to be afraid of.” Lacey watched as Ruby placed the cup in front of her. Ruby raised a brow up at her comment, before taking out a can of whipped cream. She pressed her index finger down on the button and began to spray the cream on the top of the chocolate in a large swirl that spread over the top of the cup. 

“You sound just like him, but you haven’t been on the receiving end of one of his deals… He always gets what he wants- he’ll do whatever it takes to get it, and he always gets the better end of the deal.” She slipped the flake into the cup carefully. “Cinnamon or chocolate?” 

“Chocolate please…” Lacey reached into a spacious pocket in her coat, her hand began to search for the dollars. After a small amount of time rummaging through her pocket she pulled out a small amount of money, but still enough to pay for her drink. “Have you… been on the receiving end of his rage?” She placed the money on the counter, and Ruby immediately took hold of the cash. 

“I’ve seen it… I’ve seen the icy stare he gives people who dare give him excuses for the rent…” She pressed a number of buttons on the cash register, her eyes fixed upon the buttons until the draw opened. Ruby took a few seconds to give Lacey the appropriate change, placing it on the counter a small space away from her drink. “I’ve seen him lose his temper with a few people… I’m surprised he hasn’t been arrested yet.” She proceeded in adding the final touches to Lacey’s hot chocolate by sprinkling the chocolate over the whipped cream. Once the drink was complete, Lacey hooked her index and middle finger around the handle of the cup. 

She brought the rim of the cup up to her lips, and took her first sip of hot chocolate, she immediately hummed in delight at the taste- she could never grow tired of the hot chocolate served at Granny’s Diner. After a few seconds she pulled the cup away from her face, a small layer of cream was around her top lip, her tongue slipped out from her lips and swept across the line of cream, wiping the cream away from her face.

“Thank you.” Lacey smiled and bowed her head slightly at Ruby, who returned the smile and walked to the other end of the bar to talk to Archie. All Lacey could think about was Mr. Gold… It was strange, everything Ruby had said about Mr. Gold appealed to Lacey. She imagined him pressing her against the wall of the library, his cane pressed against her bare chest. Her eyes rolled slightly, she bit her lip like she had done earlier in the presence of Mr. Gold… Lacey loved the affect he had on her. Suddenly she was aware that she was in public, and took hold of the flake from her hot chocolate, she used it to swipe up some of the cream, before bringing it up to her lips to bite down on it. 

Lacey wasn’t sure how long it took for her to finish her hot chocolate, her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Mr. Gold… some were appropriate, others… not so much. By the time she finished her hot chocolate, a few of the people who were in the room when she started had left, but Dr Whale and Leroy were still deep into their conversation about Mr. Gold. 

She stood up from her stool, and began to walk towards the door. As she made her way through the diner and towards the door, various people waved at her, some even said hello- but Lacey didn’t respond to any of the hellos- she wasn’t even completely sure of who the hellos were from. She stepped out into the cold street again, and immediately wrapped her arms tightly across her chest to hold her coat against her body, making an effort to keep the warmth inside her body. 

No one was out at this time, it wasn’t even too late- the darkness of the street due to it being winter just made everything seem later than it actually was. She saw a figure approaching her, and despite the distance she could already tell who it was. As he approached, the sound of his cane hitting the floor became louder, and Lacey swallowed slightly. His face soon became more visible, and the corners of his lips were curled up into a slight smirk as he approached her. 

“Good evening Miss French.” His voice was calm, and Lacey couldn’t stop herself from being attracted to his strong accent. She looked up, and immediately their gazes locked. 

“You too, Mr. Gold.” That was all the pair exchanged. He tilted his head towards her, and he continued to walk down the street. Lacey stayed in her position, and the smirk spread over Mr. Gold’s face as he continued his way down the street. 

Yes… he felt there was more to Lacey than met the eye, but was he prepared unlock what Lacey was keeping locked away inside her? 

Absolutely.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Gold pays Lacey a visit to learn more about the librarian.

Thursday had always been the quietest day for the library, that’s the way it had always been since Lacey had begun to work there. On average, only ten people came into the library on Thursdays, of course- some Thursdays were more crowded or less crowded than others, but ten seemed like an accurate average to Lacey. Thursdays were the days that Lacey was sure she’d see Archie, Jefferson and Graham around the library. 

Archie came in to borrow a wide range of books, but more recently Lacey had noticed him lingering around the non-fiction section, however- over the past few Thursdays; he had started checking out psychology based books. Graham had always had an interest in books about animals, but he had often checked out books centred on wolves. As for Jefferson- Lacey never seemed to see him outside the library, but he always picked out books on fashion, the making of clothes… and strangely enough- entire books on hats. 

It was already one pm, Lacey had just come back from her hour lunch break, and she had seen seven people today- Archie, Graham, Granny, Mother Superior, Dr. Whale, Ruby and Mayor Mills… on her monthly yet rather unusual and annoying visit to discuss the state of the library. But for now, the library was quiet and empty. 

Lacey sat on the chair behind the circulation desk; her eyes were fixed on the book placed on the desk in front of her. Her hand reached to the right side of the right page to turned the page over- and to her surprise, it was the final page. Her breathing was calm, as her eyes scanned over the double page spread of the book. She continued to read the book- it was rather thin, thinner than her usual book… but she couldn’t complain; it was still an amazing book. 

She reached the final few lines of the book, when the light from the window on the door became covered by an unknown figure. The door opened the Lacey’s gaze immediately diverted from the page to scan over the unknown person’s face… it was Mr. Gold. 

“Good afternoon, Lacey.” His accent was strong, and Lacey had to stop herself from biting her lip… damn that man would be the death of her. Instead, she resulted into smiling at him, and Mr. Gold returned the smile. 

“Mr. Gold… Would you mind if I finish this book quickly? It’ll only take a minute.” She kept her index finger next to the line she was reading before he interrupted her. She didn’t mind that he interrupted her reading, she was just eager to finish the book. 

“Please.” Mr. Gold replied simply, before he turned around and made his way to the bookshelf located at the back of the room, the history section. Even though Lacey didn’t look up from her book, she had a vague idea on where Mr. Gold was in the room, due to the distant sound of his cane hitting the floor as he took each step. 

‘They don’t know we’re not allowed to use magic at home. I’m going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer…’

With a small sigh of happiness, Lacey closed the book. She pushed the chair out slowly, the chair made a quiet noise as it scraped over the floor. 

“Good book?” Mr. Gold turned around to face Lacey, it was already obvious to Lacey that the books in the history section had failed to interest Mr. Gold- and he was definitely here for another reason.

“Absolutely, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a classic… So, why are you here, Mr. Gold?” She asked him, her voice was pleasant as she made her way over to the fiction section to place her book back. She looked up and already found Mr. Gold’s gaze again. She kept eye contact with him as she slipped the book back into the appropriate place on the shelf, before picking out Chamber of Secrets. 

“I was thinking… I don’t know a lot about you yet. I know a lot about the other townspeople but you… not a lot.” Mr. Gold placed both hands on the handle of his cane, before leaning back so his back could rest against the shelf. Lacey crossed her arms over her body; one hand was still holding the new book tightly between her fingers. 

“Um… What would you like to know?”

“Anything you’re comfortable with telling me…” 

“Well… my name is Lacey Isabella French… my mother wanted to name me Isabella because she liked the name Belle, but last minute my papa choked up the name Lacey… I feel it’s more me.” Lacey pressed her lips together and closed her eyes briefly. Mr. Gold tilted his head, the corner of his mouth turned up slightly so when her eyes opened again a few seconds later, Lacey got a slight glimpse of a gold tooth. “I’m sorry… I’m quite bad at answering this kind of question on the spot.” 

“Well… Maybe I can find out all I want to know…” Her head tilted questionably, but still a smile emerged on her lips at his words. She felt her body become tingly; she felt something she hadn’t felt before.

“Mr. Gold… people are afraid of you.” She couldn’t stop the words from escaping her lips, but now that the words were out, Lacey saw no issue with continuing. 

“Well… I wouldn’t let that deterrent you…”

“Deterrent me from what?” 

“Would you like to join me at Granny’s tonight?” Of course, Lacey was extremely surprised by his sudden question, and she couldn’t stop herself from biting her bottom lip- something she knew she’d probably do a lot in the presence of Mr. Gold. A few seconds later, the grip that her teeth had on her bottom lip loosened, so she could let her lip fall back into place. 

“I’d… I’d like that a lot… I close up at five o’clock if you’d like to meet me here later.” Lacey was attracted to him, that was obvious to anyone… but no one chose to believe that a girl like Lacey could be attracted to a man like Mr. Gold. As to why she was attracted to him… that was something Lacey had never understood. Hopefully, she could understand her attraction to him once their date had started. 

“I look forward to that…” He smiled at her, she caught another glimpse of his gold teeth and she couldn’t stop herself from smiling back to him. Lacey was sure something more would happen in this little encounter, but their time together was cut short by the sound of the door opening- it was Jefferson. 

As he walked towards the fashion section, he didn’t pay the pair any attention. Even as he walked behind Mr. Gold, Lacey’s gaze didn’t move at all, she almost became lost in his brown eyes- and Mr. Gold knew he could become lost in Lacey’s blue eyes eventually. 

“Looks like I’ll be seeing you tonight, Miss French…” He whispered, before leaning forward to place a sweet and gentle kiss upon her soft cheek. Her eyes rolled shut, and she exhaled happily. Her eyes opened again once his lips had separated from her cheek, and she watched without a word as he walked away from her. Her lips pressed together, he opened the door with his free hand and as he walked out the library, his head turned to look at her, he gave her a smirk and Lacey felt her body become weak. He left the library and Lacey inhaled loudly. 

Once she was at her desk again, she tried ever so hard to focus on reading her new book… but the only thing she could think about, was her date with Mr. Gold.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lacey uses her date with Mr. Gold to learn more about him. She is determined to decode the mystery surrounding him.

The time between Mr. Gold’s visit and the library closing time felt like an eternity for Lacey. Luckily enough the rest of the day was pretty quiet, so she had a chance to become lost in the world of her book- but surprisingly, the time still managed to drag on. Often her gaze would lift up from the page and onto her watch- she found herself disappointed with the time and how slow the day seemed to be going. 

And now- the day’s work had finished, and Lacey was free to leave the library, and Lacey had never found herself more eager to leave. Her hand reached behind to pick up her blue coat which was hung around the back of the chair, and she slipped her arms into the holes. She inhaled slowly; her heart was racing- she had waited for this moment in a while. Her attraction to Mr. Gold was one of her biggest secrets- and finally it was going to become public. 

She left the library; the cold air hit her clothed body and she shivered slightly, turning around to lock up the library for the night. She could hear footsteps coming from behind her- and then she heard the cane clanking against the floor with each step he took and Lacey could immediately tell who was approaching her. 

“Good evening, Lacey…” His voice was a husky whisper, and Lacey was glad he couldn’t see her face, due to her biting her lip and her eyes rolling… he had that effect on her. Once the door was securely locked, Lacey turned around to face Mr. Gold, giving him her best smile. Her eyes quickly scanned over his well tailed suit, she could become well used to that… so far- Lacey had only ever been with boys- well, idiotic boys, the kind who used to walk around in leather jackets and little IQ points , and maybe being with a smart gentleman with well-tailored suits would be a nice change. His appearance made Lacey swallow slightly, more out of self-control out of fear. 

“Hello, Mr. Gold.” She took a few steps towards Mr. Gold, and he also took a few steps towards Lacey until they were standing side by side. Mr. Gold looped his free arm, silently inviting Lacey to join him. Without a word, Lacey looped her arm through his and the pair immediately began to walk in the direction of Granny’s, in comfortable silence. 

In no time at all, Mr. Gold disconnected their arms so he could open the door politely for Lacey, like a true gentlemen. The door opened and the talking stopped almost instantly, she could already feel everyone’s eyes on them. Lacey didn’t even look at the townspeople, all of her attention was on her date for the evening. They sat in a booth in the bottom corner, not out of view, but rather isolated… of course, that didn’t stop the townspeople watching them. The pair sat in comfortable silence, to anyone else it would feel awkward, but it felt completely comfortable to them. Instead of talking, the pair just took the time to admire each other’s appearance, and to soak up every visible part of their date… and both could admit they liked what they saw. 

“Did you have a good day?” Lacey was the one to break the silence, and Mr. Gold simply continued to admire her. He smiled softly at her, and without breaking the eye contact he reached over the side of the table to pick up two menus. He passed one toward Lacey, who eagerly accepted the menu off him before he took his own, holding it in front of himself. 

“I did indeed. It was quite a slow day, but pleasant anyway… but I think it’s going to get a lot better now. What about you? How was your day?” His eyes momentarily glanced down to menu, before quickly diverting back up to Lacey. His words made Lacey smile slightly; she felt her heart beat increase slightly. 

“The same as your day… I see it getting better now.” Lacey couldn’t stop herself from flirting… it wasn’t something she often did, but when it came to flirting with Mr. Gold; she simply couldn’t resist. The corner of his mouth turned up into a slight smirk at her attempt at flirting, he could already see that this would be a very interesting evening. “Mr. Gold… is this a date?” 

“I’d like it to be, if that’s something you’d like…” Mr. Gold’s voice was quiet; he didn’t want anyone else to hear them, he didn’t really want Mr. Gold and Lacey’s date to be the gossip of the town… even though he knew it was bound to happen- news travelled quickly around here. Lacey could feel her cheeks turn red- she hadn’t blushed in quite a while, but this was not out of embarrassment… but Lacey didn’t exactly know why she was blushing. “But, it can be whatever you’d like it to be.”

“I do want that.” She pressed her lips together and let a small smile form on her lips. Mr. Gold opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could form he spotted Granny approaching their table with an unreadable expression on her face. Mr. Gold and Granny’s relationship had been quite complicated, the only reason Granny chose to tolerate Mr. Gold was because he owned the diner and the inn- but when it came to anything other than business, Granny was quite dismissive of Mr. Gold. 

“Ready to order?” Granny made no effort to sound enthusiastic; she had never tried to hide the fact that she didn’t like Mr. Gold. Lacey was the first to break the eye contact with Mr. Gold. She looked up to Granny and tried her hardest to give her a meaningful smile- but she could feel Granny silently judging her for her choice of date. 

“Umm… could I have the hamburger and iced tea?” Lacey watched as Granny scribbled down Lacey’s order on her note pad, and Lacey was quite surprised that Granny hadn’t tore the paper with the force of her pen. Once the order had been scribbled down, Granny’s gaze diverted from the note pad and back up to Mr. Gold. 

“I think I’ll have the same actually.” Mr. Gold placed his menu flat on the table and looked at Granny with a raised brow, and she immediately rolled her eyes. Lacey leaned forward slightly; she could feel the tension burning off the pair. 

“Is that everything?” Her voice was full of annoyance. Lacey could tell that Granny was more than eager to leave the table, but for some reason… Lacey wanted to see a little more of their exchange. Lacey had never been the one to enjoy conflict, but the idea of Mr. Gold involved in the conflict made Lacey extremely curious to see it play out. 

“Um… Could I have extra pickles in my hamburger?”

“I charge extra for pickles.” Lies, Mr. Gold thought as he looked at Lacey. Lacey felt his eyes on her, and Lacey’s gaze drifted back to him. She had a look in her eyes, as if she was silently asking Mr. Gold’s permission if she could have the extra pickles- and Mr. Gold understood this, and nodded in reply. 

“That’s fine. And that’s everything- thank you Granny.” Granny took her first chance available to walk away from the table. Lacey watched Granny walk away with wide eyes, and Mr. Gold’s lips formed a smirk as he looked back to Lacey. 

“Yes, Granny and I have a complicated relationship… but to be fair to myself, I have a complicated relationship with the entire town.” These words diverted Lacey’s attention back to Mr. Gold. 

“Why’s that?” Yes- Lacey was determined to learn as much about him as she could, he was quite a mysterious man, and Lacey was determined to unravel the mystery over time. However, since it was only their first date- she couldn’t ask him too many questions; it was only their first date. 

“Because a lot of them owe me money… They think I’m some sort of beast.” His words made Lacey’s head tilt. The pair continued to keep eye contact, and Mr. Gold wasn’t prepared to look away from her blue eyes any time soon- they were stunning, but he wouldn’t say that on their first date. 

“And are you, some sort of beast?” 

His mouth opened to answer the question, but before Mr. Gold had time to answer, he spotted a familiar figure out the window, sitting on one of the seats outside the diner. All of a sudden he was glad that Lacey was sitting with her back facing the wall, so she couldn’t see out the window to see her ex- Gaston, sitting outside. The only reason Mr. Gold knew what Gaston looked like was because he had witnessed the fight that Lacey and Gaston had been involved in. He took a deep intake of air; he didn’t want to scare Lacey off, not on their first date anyway. 

“Do you think I am?” 

Mr. Gold pressed his lips together; he was honestly lost for words. He often prided himself in being an enigma, he enjoyed keeping as little information known about him as possible- but he was more than willing to allow Lacey her chance to unravel and uncover the mystery surrounding him… if Lacey was willing to play his little game of course. 

“I don’t know… but I’d be more than willing to find out.” Something about flirting with Mr. Gold was extremely satisfying, it made Lacey feel something she had been craving in a while; she had been craving danger. She pressed her lips together, and placed her hands on the table in front of her. The pair exchanged a look, Lacey tried to decode the mystery just by looking into his eyes… of course that didn’t work- but boy did she like his brown eyes. Mr. Gold rather enjoyed Lacey’s eyes too; they were a gorgeous and unique shade of blue, a pair of eyes that Mr. Gold knew he wouldn’t forget in a while. 

The eye contact was broken, by a hand placing one of the burgers in front of Mr. Gold, and Lacey immediately withdrew her hands from the table so Granny was able to place the plate in front of her. Lacey was quite surprised at how fast it had taken them for their meals to arrive, but she had no idea how long the pair had spent admiring each other’s eyes… time seemed to travel very fast in the company of Mr. Gold. The drinks were placed next to their meals, and Mr. Gold immediately wrapped his fingers around the glass. He slowly raised the glass, not all the way up, but high enough for Lacey and no one around them to see. 

“Have a wonderful meal, Lacey.” He said with a single nod and a smirk on his face. Lacey knew that a majority of ladies around Storybrooke wouldn’t feel the way she felt about Mr. Gold- they considered him to be manipulative and a beast… but all Lacey could see was his charm and power. She never used to like power, but Lacey could feel the mask she used to hide the new found monster inside her slipping off her face, and Lacey was more than willing to allow it to drop.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lacey sees a glimpse of the darkness inside Mr. Gold, and she more than likes what she sees.

Normally, Lacey liked her time to travel fairly quickly, but on this date- Lacey wished the time they spent together had moved a lot more slowly. The burger was nicer than Lacey had expected, sure she had seen a lot of people eating Granny’s famous burger, and had heard a lot of people praising its wonderful taste; but she had never had a taste of it herself. Mr. Gold seemed to enjoy his burger too, which was strange to Lacey, since she didn’t exactly imagine him to be the burger type… he really was a complete mystery. 

Now the date was over, and Lacey felt like she wanted more. If it was up to Lacey, this would be the first of many dates, but it wasn’t just up to Lacey, it was also up to Mr. Gold.   
Mr. Gold was the first to stand up; he immediately walked around the table to hold his hand out to Lacey. Lacey looked up at his simple gesture and without a second of hesitation, she took his hand. It was like electricity ran through their veins as their skin touched, and as soon as their hands connected, Mr. Gold held her hand. His grip wasn’t hard, it was rather loose actually, but as Lacey tightened her grip slightly and entwined her fingers with his, and he happily copied Lacey’s movements. The pair made their way towards the door, Lacey walked behind Mr. Gold but their hands were still connected. 

As they became a few paces away from the door, Lacey took the chance to overtake him. Without separating their hands, she managed to step in front of him, to allow herself to open the door for him. He smiled at her, moving to rest his back against the door. 

“Ladies first.” His voice was soft and quiet- admittedly, Lacey liked his voice better when it was husky, but his soft voice was something Lacey knew she’d learn to like just as much. After just two words, Lacey didn’t need any more persuasion; she walked past him quickly, making sure that her side brushed against Mr. Gold’s chest. Mr. Gold immediately looked down to the spot of his chest which brushed against Lacey, before his gaze diverted back up to his date for the night as she turned around, already out the door of the Diner. As soon as he realized that Lacey was now away from the door, Mr. Gold took a few steps away from the door to stand next to Lacey again, the door closed quietly a few seconds after he walked away. 

Without a word, Mr. Gold’s gaze moved down to the space between them by their thighs, and his hand moved out- silently asking Lacey to take his hand again. It took Lacey a few seconds to realize that his hand was out, but as soon as her eyes met his silent request- she accepted his hand willingly, their fingers entwined immediately.

The pair began to walk down Main Street, and with their footsteps in perfect sync, they walked down the street and towards Lacey’s apartment door near the library without a care in the world… it felt like it was just them in the world, and it was perfect. 

And this perfection was ruined almost a second later. 

“I knew you were on the rebound Lacey… but with this beast? Seriously?” Lacey didn’t even need to turn around to identify whose voice it was. Of course, it was an extremely drunk Gaston. Mr. Gold was extremely glad that his hand was connected with Lacey’s; otherwise he would have already lost his temper. Lacey’s grip tightened on Mr. Gold’s hand slightly, and he let his thumb stroke the back of her hand in an attempt to comfort her. 

“You’re hardly the one to talk about rebound, Gaston… I heard you’ve been getting whoever you can behind the Rabbit Hole, sure most of them say no- I don’t blame them.” Lacey’s words were quiet, but her tone was still full of venom and hatred towards her ex- boyfriend. Mr. Gold could feel the dark edge practically burning off his date, and he made no effort to hold her back other than the comforting strokes on the back of her hand using his thumb. He just stood next to Lacey, a slight smirk forming on his lips; he would interfere soon, but first he wanted to see how Lacey could defend herself on her own... it was surprisingly hot to see her like this.

“I bet everyone said no to you, even Leroy rejected you so you chose an old man with a lot of money… just trying to get your father more money like you did with me and free drinks.” Gaston snarled in response, and Mr. Gold felt his temper slowly run away from him. 

Without disconnecting his hand from Lacey’s hand, he lifted the other hand holding his cane, and he raised the end of his cane up. Suddenly; with one swift movement, he hit Gaston in the neck harshly with the end of the cane. Gaston fell backwards onto the wet sidewalk; he immediately lifted his hand to his neck to cover the spot that Mr. Gold hit. Mr. Gold practically growled at Gaston, the hatred coursed through his veins, and as he was about to lean forward to send another hit through his body, Lacey’s hand tightened significantly. He looked at Lacey, and felt his temper immediately calm back down. 

“You’re lucky I have something else on my mind… But if you hurt or insult her again- you won’t be so lucky.” Mr. Gold snarled at Gaston, before he looked back at Lacey- her face was blank, and with a hint of lust in her eyes, but the lust went completely unnoticed by Mr. Gold. Lacey was the first one to walk away, and Mr. Gold eagerly walked with her. 

“And be warned, if you chose to tell someone about this little encounter, I’ll be sure to raise the rent on the Rabbit Hole… or just evict them- depending on how much you anger me.” He called back to Gaston, his voice was a snarl, but with an edge that sounded somewhat cheerful as he walked away from Gaston. They reached the library, and walked around the corner towards the door to Lacey’s apartment. 

“Well… I’m sorry you had to see that…” His hand still remained joined with Lacey’s, their fingers still entwined. Lacey looked up into his brown eyes and immediately felt a small smile fall upon her lips. 

“It’s fine… as first dates go, it was probably the best one I’ve had…” She whispered, and her bottom lip immediately slipped into the grasp of her teeth, as she bit her lip gently to stop herself from saying anything else. Mr. Gold took a small sigh of relief, and a small smile formed on his lips. 

He slowly raised their hands up, and Lacey made no effort to pull her hand away from his grasp. He lifted her hand to his lips, and placed a single gentle kiss on the back of her hand, and Lacey’s teeth bit down harder on her lip, until she managed to let her lip slip from the grasp of her teeth. 

“Perhaps you’d like to join me on a second date?” His voice was quiet, but with a husky edge. Lacey didn’t need to think for more than a second to know the answer to his question, but she didn’t want to seem too eager- it was only their first date after all. A few seconds later, Lacey knew it had been an appropriate amount of time to answer the question.

She nodded, and watched as the smile on his lips became brighter. Their hands didn’t separate; their eyes remained locked on each other’s as they remained quiet.

“I’d like that… perhaps you could pop into the library tomorrow.” Her voice was mildly suggestive; she just couldn’t stop flirting with him. Mr. Gold let his thumb stroke over the back of her hand as he nodded in response. 

“I’ll be around. And I apologize for what I did to Gaston.” The smile faded from both of their lips at the mention of his name, but Lacey’s grip tightened on his hand slightly. 

“Are you really sorry?” Lacey felt the corner of her lips turn up into a small smirk, and Mr. Gold couldn’t stop himself from returning the smirk. His head tilted, his eyes scanned over the corner of her lips - the smirk didn’t look natural on her lips. She looked completely innocent, she was the town librarian as well- but with the smirk, Lacey looked far from the innocent girl that Mr. Gold thought she was, and there was something exciting about how much a smirk could change her appearance. 

“No… I’m not sorry at all.” Mr. Gold found himself moving closer to Lacey, he couldn’t resist her- she was like the opposite side of a magnet to him. He stopped a small space in front of her, and his eyes closed. “But I’m sorry for that…” Before Lacey had a chance to protest, he backed away shamefully. 

“It’s okay… I get that we have a while for that… I’ll let you get going before you become even more tempted.” Lacey wouldn’t have minded if they did anything on their first date, but it was obvious to Lacey that Mr. Gold didn’t want to push her; another reason that Lacey was glad that she had decided to go on a date with a gentleman. 

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, Mr. Gold turned around and began to walk away back to Main Street. Lacey simply watched him as he walked away, until she finally decided to stop him. 

“Mr. Gold…” She called for him, staying in the space position she was in before. Mr. Gold turned on his heels and simply smiled at her, giving her a chance to speak. “I have an hour lunch break from twelve until one… if you’d like to come over and keep me company.” Mr. Gold gave her a toothy smile, much like the one he had given her before. 

“I’d like that.” He said simply with a nod as he continued to smile at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow” 

And he was gone, he disappeared around the corner. All Lacey could do was take a deep gasp of air, she had waited for a date with him- for years now. As Lacey stepped into the door, she was immediately met with a large staircase leading up to her apartment. She managed to slip her high heeled shoes off, and hold them with one finger each; the tip of her finger was placed inside the counter. 

Lacey couldn’t describe how she felt when Mr. Gold hit Gaston with the end of his cane. Even though Lacey often hated violence, it felt quite amazing to watch Mr. Gold defend her. 

It was all she could think about, even when she laid in bed that night. Her eyes closed and all she could see was the event if Lacey wasn’t there when the incident occurred. She could hear Gaston cry and gasp each time the cane hit a different part of his body, and she could hear Mr. Gold’s twisted chuckles as he took each swing at his aching body. 

She slowly fell asleep; her lullaby was the sound of the cane hitting Gaston repeatedly, his cries became drowned out by Mr. Gold’s constant twisted chuckling that seemed to be getting louder with every hit. To anyone else, this would be a nightmare…

But for Lacey, it became her favourite dream.


End file.
